City Council Approves the Community’s Bold Vision for an Inclusive, Connected, Healthy City

Apr 22, 2019

Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver outline a plan for responsible growth over the next 20 years

Denver – Denver City Council voted today to officially adopt Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver. These two citywide plans are part of a bold vision for responsible growth that envisions an inclusive, connected and healthy Denver, and—for the first time—the plans consider social equity factors like vulnerability to displacement, allowing for programs and policies tailored to meet the needs of each neighborhood.

“Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint will promote and ensure responsible, equitable growth here in Denver, and tonight’s vote is the result of years of work and thousands of people getting involved to shape and create a more inclusive, connected and healthy city,” Mayor Michael B. Hancocksaid. “These plans reflect the type of city our residents want Denver to be today and in the future – this is the community’s vision, and we look forward to continuing to partner with the community to implement their vision.”

“Community Planning and Development is grateful to the thousands of community members who shared their voices and ideas, as well as the volunteers and staff who dedicated the last three years to creating this vision for the city,” said Jill Jennings Golich, interim executive director of Community Planning and Development. “We look forward to beginning the work of implementing these plans and continuing to work with the community to make this vision a reality.”

Prior to Council adoption, the two plans were unanimously approved by the Denver Planning Board and reviewed by City Council’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which also voted unanimously to advance the plans to the full Council.

About Denveright

City Council’s action is the culmination of the Denveright planning process, an unprecedented three-year effort that involved extensive community engagement and feedback, and coordination among multiple city agencies. Denveright challenged residents, neighborhood organizations, local business owners and community leaders in every corner of the city to shape how Denver evolved in the areas of land use, mobility, parks and recreational resources.

The result was five coordinated and inter-connected citywide plans that will chart the course for the Mile High City for the next 20 years:

Comprehensive Plan 2040, a concise, high-level set of goals and recommendations that reflects the voice of thousands of Denverites who have shared their hopes, concerns and dreams about the city's future.

Blueprint Denver, the city’s integrated land use and transportation plan, focused on creating complete neighborhoods and complete networks everywhere in our city, and offering a measured, common-sense approach to where growth should go and how it should fit in.

Game Plan for a Healthy City, the city’s parks and recreation plan, which also requires Council adoption and will be reviewed over the next few weeks on these dates:

April 24: Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will review Game Plan for a Healthy City

April 30: City Council Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will review and vote on Game Plan for a Healthy City

May 20: City Council public hearing and vote on Game Plan for a Healthy City

The Denver Moves plans did not require City Council adoption and are already guiding decision making today.

Unprecedented engagement

With more than 25,000 pieces of input received from the community throughout the creation of the plans, the city has seen an unprecedented level of engagement for a planning effort like this. A comprehensive mix of grassroots efforts—from small, neighborhood-level events to large-scale community gatherings—digital engagement, traditional meetings, and neighborhood outreach created more than 200 opportunities for Denverites to get involved. Ideas and input collected from the community through these opportunities served as the foundation for the draft plans first released to the public in August 2018. The final versions of the plans adopted by City Council reflect public feedback on the original drafts, totaling more than 2,700 comments collected during two public review periods over the last nine months.

Next steps

Comprehensive Plan 2040 will now begin serving as a guiding document, ensuring that the community’s long-term vision informs decisions across the city as budget season approaches. Likewise, Blueprint Denver will begin informing land use decisions, such as rezonings, and other planning processes that take cues from adopted plans. For example, Blueprint Denver’s framework will provide the foundation and vocabulary for neighborhood plans, which will calibrate citywide goals according to neighborhood goals, needs and challenges.

Additionally, to begin to put the community’s ideas into action and see the results of this long planning effort as soon as possible, Community Planning and Development is already starting to implement recommendations from the plans, including using zoning to improve residential design, protect historic neighborhoods, and integrate cultural heritage and movements into our preservation program; supporting Public Works in their updates to Denver’s street-design standards for safer, greener, higher-quality streets/sidewalks; and creating a citywide incentive for building affordable housing near transit.

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BUILDING COMMUNITY: Denver Community Planning and Development (CPD) is responsible for visionary city planning and ensuring safe, responsible, sustainable building. CPD regulates planning, zoning, development and maintenance of private property in Denver. We're working hard to make Denver a great place to live, work and play! Visit DenverGov.org/CPD or follow us on Twitter at @DenverCPD.